Why Care About Workers' Control?

One reason why an economist should care about workers' control is that capitalist firms dominate large sectors of every modern economy and are major features of everyday life. Given the apparent feasibility of firms controlled by workers, this empirical regularity requires an explanation. Most of this book addresses the theoretical question of why LMFs are rare. This intellectual project should be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the way the world works. At the same time, workers' control taps into deeply held moral and philosophical beliefs about the purposes and design of an economic system. Views expressed in the literature run from sweeping denunciations of capitalism to equally sweeping pronouncements that the market has revealed the futility of workers' control.

This chapter surveys a series of moral justifications for workers' control, including those based on egalitarianism, democratic theory, property rights, and ideas of dignity and community. Most of the chapter will describe and critique arguments developed by other writers. Because each writer makes a distinctive case against the capitalist firm, there is no consistent version of workers' control that all would embrace as an ideal. Some writers advocate a radical transformation of the entire economic system, while others endorse only minor tinkering with the status quo or the use of workers' control in particular contexts.